Auguste Bijah. The length is 74 cm. Height 32 cm. Depth 17 cm. Weight 23.5 kg. Auguste Bijah studied at the School of Arts and Crafts in Riga (Latvia), where he studied engraving and carving. He went abroad to Christiania (now Oslo) to study sculpture, and then to Konigsberg, now Kaliningrad, where he worked with Ivon Trondsen, a good coin engraver, in a decorative style.  In 1897, he left East Prussia and settled in Brussels, where he was hired as the first engraver in the house of Wiskemann. At the same time, he was a student at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he continued to study sculpture and medallions in the classroom under the guidance of sculptor Charles van der Stappen.  After becoming independent, he took over a small commercial engraving workshop located at 28 Colonne Street in Molenbeek, very close to the Compagnie des Bronzes, which he regularly visited and where he supervised the casting of his works.  With a dreamy temperament and a love of art, Auguste Bijah has devoted himself to sculpture since the beginning of his career. A foreigner living in a popular area, Bijah will not find a market for his works there. However, the Latvian representative office is interested in it. So he made two statues: one of the politician Meyarovich, the other of the poet Yu. Rainis. They were sent to Riga. Later, he will have the opportunity to depict several attaches of the diplomatic mission, a Lithuanian general and the President of the Republic of Estonia in medals.  He exhibited at the triennial fairs in Brussels and Antwerp. In 1909, he exhibited at the La Ghirlande circle in Brussels. In 1939, at the exhibition "Two Decembers" in Brussels. In 1946, in the "47th salon" of the Kunst en Kennis circle in Ghent.  Bijah really knows engraving thoroughly, being a very good sculptor. His two talents are harmoniously combined. His medallions are designed for reduction and embossing, an ability that some medal sculptors painfully lack. Since his youth, he has been able to keep his perceptions fresh. His Slavic nature, combined with his Belgian temperament, contributed to the enrichment of his talent. He discerned with insight the main characteristics of his models, whose individuality and aspirations he managed to convey in an amazing way through precise and harmonious lines and volumes. The similarity of his models was never insufficient, although sometimes he surpassed them to such an extent that he made prototypes of them.

Type Figurines

Date of sale 2023-09-12

Auction House Gallery 74

Where was the auction held Israel